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Karen Allen

Karen Allen Books

Actress

Karen Allen, born on October 5, 1951, is an accomplished American actress. She gained widespread recognition for her role in the 'National Treasure' film series and has appeared in numerous other films and television shows.

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Related Quotes

“Caregivers of those with a traumatic brain injury had their blood pressure recorded at certain time of day -- at meals and during other activities, .. The blood pressure of the people who had adopted the pets went down dramatically.”

People Certain Brain Blood Activity Pressure Meals Injury Pet Adopted Blood Pressure Caregivers Time Of Day Brain Injury Traumatic Brain Injury

Author:Karen Allen

“I was so lucky. I was very broke and I was taking classes at Lee Strasberg's Institute and I saw a 3 X 5 index card on the bulletin board advertising for college-aged girls for a film. That was Animal House.”

Film Girl House Animal Class Saws College Lucky Cards Advertising Broke Boards Institute So Lucky Bulletin Board

Author:Karen Allen

“Scripts are kind of a bare bones type of reading material.”

Kind Reading Materials Type Scripts Bones

Author:Karen Allen

“I think it's very important that films like Bad Hurt don't get lost in the mix of the sci-fi-kill-everything-on-the-screen-blood-dripping-down-the-walls sort of the world of the cinema that we live in.”

Thinking World Important Film Lost Hurt Blood Wall Screens Cinema Sci Fi Dripping

Author:Karen Allen

“I watch many, many, many independent films every year that you see once in a film festival and they're never heard of ever again. Many of them are very, very good.”

Years Film Watches Heard Independent Very Good Festivals Independent Film Film Festivals

Author:Karen Allen

“When independent films break through and actually make it into any level of mainstream-ness or get seen by people or find a life actually in theaters, it's extraordinary. And it doesn't happen that often.”

People Happens Film Levels Break Theater Independent Extraordinary Mainstream Break Through Independent Film

Author:Karen Allen

“When I was in my 20s and 30s, there was such a variety and diversity of types of films that you could see. So many of them were really more about the human condition and about relationships between people, and they were smaller films that had a much greater impact on me as a human being.”

People Humans Film Human Beings Greater Conditions Type Diversity Impact Variety Human Condition

Author:Karen Allen

“CGI is to me like watching a cartoon. It can be effective, if it's done well. A lot of times you don't feel any real risk. You're watching a bunch of computer-generated graphics.”

Ifs Feels Wells Real Done Risk Computer Bunch Cartoon Cgi

Author:Karen Allen

“I'm always surprised when people say, "Oh, it got such mixed reviews." I guess I didn't read them.”

Author:Karen Allen

“I have to say from an actor's perspective, to work with a director who has been an actor through most of their career is a pleasure. They generally have a very deep understanding of the process of what you're doing, of how you are building and exploring the character.”

Has Beens Character Actors Process Understanding Pleasure Careers Building Perspective Directors Exploring Very Deep Deep Understanding

Author:Karen Allen

“I was quite eager to work, anytime somebody was offering me a job, if I liked the role. Because I was always very discriminating from the very beginning, in the sense that I had absolutely no problem saying no to jobs when they came along if somehow they didn't fit into my universe - whatever that was.”

Ifs Problem Jobs Universe Roles Fit Offering No Problem Saying No

Author:Karen Allen

“I was always drawn toward the Actor's Studio. I studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute when I first came to New York. One of my favorite teachers was one of Al [Pachino]'s teachers, a guy named Charlie Laughton, who was just a wonderful, wonderful man.”

Men Firsts Guy Actors Teacher Wonderful New York My Favorite Studios Als Charlie Institute Wonderful Man

Author:Karen Allen

“For me, the motivation really was to work with Al Pacino. To me, that seemed like an incredible opportunity, just a learning opportunity because I thought so highly of him.”

Motivation Opportunity Incredibles Als

Author:Karen Allen

“There is a difference when you work with actors who have worked on the stage. When we're out there in front of an audience eight times a week, you can't do it on your own.”

Actors Differences Audience Week Stage Fronts Eight

Author:Karen Allen

“If you just work on your upper body, you're not going to be a full-range dancer or performer. You've got to work in all directions as much as you possibly can.”

Ifs Body Range Dancer Performers

Author:Karen Allen

“Unfortunately, I feel as actors we have to fight for the right to really go in as many directions as possible.”

Feels Fighting Actors

Author:Karen Allen

“You want to move into worlds you've never been in before. It would be like going to the same restaurant all the time or going to the same place for vacation all the time. Where is the adventure in that?”

World Want Would Be Moving Adventure Restaurants Vacation

Author:Karen Allen

“I think that there is a real beauty to the live aspect of the theater, and the working with a director for a month on a script in the isolation of a room and really deeply delving into who are these people, what is the story we're telling, how do we want to tell it?”

People Thinking Want Real Stories Rooms Months Directors Aspect Theater Scripts Isolation Real Beauty Really Deep Delving

Author:Karen Allen

“In the theater, actors are the essential element of the work. In a film, it's a real collaboration - not that theater isn't, because it is - but it's a collaboration to such an extent that you can give a performance in film that sometimes you look at and you go, "Well, that's not the performance I was trying to give at all."”

Giving Trying Wells Looks Real Sometimes Film Actors Essentials Elements Performances Theater Collaboration

Author:Karen Allen

“When I read a film script, I kind of see it in my head and I see the moments that shape what I understand the character to be. There's very little time for rehearsal.”

Kind Littles Moments Character Film Shapes Scripts Rehearsal Little Time

Author:Karen Allen

“I try to offer as much as I can to the director so he has as much to work with as possible to create the character that, really, he wants to create in a sense.”

Want Trying I Can Character Offers Directors

Author:Karen Allen

“As actors, the magic is in the almost spiritual experience to really enter another world, to really enter a belief of being in another person's shoes and to really take on their experiences as someone else has written them and imagined them. It's kind of a sacred thing. It's a very spiritual experience. That in itself for me is the main thing that keeps me coming back to it. I like to travel, but for me, this is the greatest travel.”

World Kind Persons Spiritual Actors Belief Written Magic Sacred Shoes Coming Back Another World Spiritual Experience Sacred Things

Author:Karen Allen

“I've had so many people just come up to me and say, 'When you came up on the screen, everybody in the theater applauded.' It's just so sweet, really.”

People Sweet Theater Come Up Screens

Author:Karen Allen

“You know, I don't really understand a suburban environment. I want to be out in the woods, I want to be where it's wild, I want to wake up and hear birds, I want to walk outside and see a gaggle of turkeys bouncing across my lawn - I want to be someplace like that - or I want to be right in the middle of an urban environment.”

Knows Want Walks Environment Middle Bird Wake Up Woods Urban Turkeys Lawns Urban Environment

Author:Karen Allen

“I've never done anything for money. My first love is things of limited commercial appeal. I could be happy doing Shakespeare for the rest of my life.”

Firsts Done Love Is Appeals First Love

Author:Karen Allen

“I'm about as healthy as a person can be. I quit smoking seven or eight years ago.”

Years Persons Healthy Years Ago Seven Eight Quitting Smoking I Quit Quit Smoking

Author:Karen Allen

“Sometimes I think candor is the only kindness.”

Thinking Sometimes Reality Truth Kindness Candor

Author:Karen Allen

“Eventually you love people - friends or lovers - because of their flaws.”

People Lovers Flaws Friend Love

Author:Karen Allen

“I've always done things the hard way. I was born like a piece of tangled yarn. The job is trying to untangle it, and I'll probably go on doing it for the rest of my life.”

Way Trying Hard Done Jobs Born Pieces Goes On Life Is Hard Tangled Hard Life Hard Way Yarn

Author:Karen Allen

“There's something so wonderful about being an actor in New York.”

Actors Wonderful New York

Author:Karen Allen

“The secrecy thing has gotten to be more and more prevalent in films, and maybe that's good. It's nice to go see a film and not know anything about it. Sometimes I feel like we know too much about films.”

Knows Feels Sometimes Film Too Much Nice Secrecy

Author:Karen Allen

“People want to see a movie that casts a mature woman across from a mature man.”

People Men Want Casts Mature

Author:Karen Allen

“Let's just say I decided that while my son is young I don't want to do projects that would take me away for months.”

Want Young Son Months Projects Decided My Son Take Me Take Me Away

Author:Karen Allen

“If there are no other wonderful roles that come my way, I have a quite an interesting, dynamic life.”

Ifs Way Interesting Roles Wonderful My Way

Author:Karen Allen

“I feel as though I would be delighted to come back into working in the film world, and working in the theater world again. I'm just gonna see what happens.”

World Feels Happens Would Be Film Theater Delighted

Author:Karen Allen

“I don't know if I've ever played a character who's close to me. There have been some elements of myself in different roles. Sometimes, I show one side of myself and then completely conceal the other.”

Ifs Knows Has Beens Different Sometimes Character Shows Sides Roles Elements

Author:Karen Allen

“A lot of times when I've been offered film series and stuff, if they shoot in Los Angeles, I lose interest.”

Ifs Film Stuff Interest Loses Series Los Angeles

Author:Karen Allen

“I'm from a generation of fantastic actresses. It's a big pool of really wonderful actresses, and so many of them we never even get to see on the screen anymore.”

Bigs Wonderful Generations Actresses Screens Fantastic Pool

Author:Karen Allen

“I don't necessarily like being defined by my profession.”

Profession Defined

Author:Karen Allen

“I just felt like I had to create a life for myself where I was more independent.”

Felt Independent

Author:Karen Allen

“I thought, I need to reinvent myself. I want every day of life to be wonderful, fascinating, interesting, creative. And what am I gonna do to make that happen?”

Want Needs Happens Interesting Creative Wonderful Fascinating

Author:Karen Allen

“I loved living and breathing theatre so much that I decided I had to find a way to bring my desire to act and my ability to support myself together. I'd run through the possibilities in Washington, so that meant moving to New York.”

Way Running Together Moving Desire Ability Support New York Possibility Decided Theatre Breathing

Author:Karen Allen

“Idleness does drive me crazy, but I'd rather read or write than do anything just to work. A kind of respect has been instilled in me for acting: I love it too much to ever have a bad relationship with it.”

Writing Kind Doe Has Beens Acting Too Much Crazy Idleness Bad Relationship Drive Me Crazy

Author:Karen Allen

“As far as acting in films, there is not much out there that is very interesting to do. The ones that are interesting to me are independent films and they have trouble raising money. With people putting their money into blockbusters, there is not much left for the independents.”

People Film Left Interesting Acting Trouble Independent Very Interesting Independent Film Blockbuster Raising Money

Author:Karen Allen

“I said to myself, 'I've waited a long time in my life to have a child, and I'm missing it, I want to continue to have a career, but not this way.”

Way Want Children Long Said Careers Missing Long Time Missing It

Author:Karen Allen

“My son was born somewhat late in my life and I just found myself really feeling like I didn't want to miss out on being a parent and being with him, and not wanting a situation where I was constantly pulled back and forth between being present, and having all these other pressures and considerations.”

Want Feelings Found Parent Born Situation Missing Son Late Pressure Consideration My Son Back And Forth Being A Parent

Author:Karen Allen

About the Author

Born: October 5, 1951
Known for: Actress
Quotes: 46

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